The Brothers Karamazov, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, published in 1880, is a profound novel that left me ruminating on it long after I had finished it. It’s a book that explores philosophical themes at great length, particularly existential and moral themes, and portrays those beliefs through the lives, thoughts, and actions of its characters.
It is the sweeping story of the Karamazov family, including the father, Fyodor Karamazov, and his three sons, Alyosha, the youngest, who is a monk, Ivan, the intellectual, and Dmitri, the oldest son. The first half of the book explores the history and background of these character, and their specific outlooks on life. Alyosha is contemplating life in the monastery while his mentor, Father Zosima, who is dying, leaves him lasting advice that will impact his life as a monk. Ivan can’t stand to live in the family home with his father and wants to leave, while Dmitri believes he is owed an inheritance from his father, and though he is betrothed to Katrina Ivanovna, whom Ivan is in love with, he wants to be with Grushenka, a woman whom his father would marry in a heartbeat.
But the story takes a major shift when Fyodor Karamazov is murdered, and all evidence points to Dmitri, since he was last seen by his father’s servants at the event, and the money taken at the crime scene was exactly the amount he needed to pay off a debt to be with Grushenka. But Dostoevsky does not reveal what took place at the crime scene until the every end (through a series of interviews, including with the police and the servants ). As a reader, you’re left wondering if Dmitri did it or not, and since we had followed him on his journey as he went from person to person begging for money (3,000 roubles), to the point where he confronts Grushenka at the hotel in Mokroe with the man who she’s planning on leaving with, we question if he really committed the crime or not, though circumstantial evidence weighs heavily against him.
The Brothers Karamazov is a combination of a murder mystery and a philosophical treatise on the moral implications of philosophic values. Ivan believes that everything is lawful and therefore permitted (based on his denial of the immortality of the soul), and criticizes Alyosha’s spiritual beliefs because of how corrupt the world is and how it seems that there is no divine intervention against evil. But Alyosha believes that good must endure in spite of evil, because that is the only way to overcome it in this world. With these two different moral and philosophic viewpoints, in conjunction with the murder of their father, and with their brother, Dmitri, on trial, they must take a stand as to whether he is guilty or not, and therefore, judge him accordingly.
The concluding court trial and ending of this book left me reflecting back on the narrative and these characters, who are so well carved out that they seem real. Dostoevsky did an excellent job contrasting their personalities, while diving deep into their psyches as if he could read their minds and share them with us, even as they wrestled with doubts or indecisions. I found this book hard to put down, particularly at the halfway point, as it was riveting to discover how everything would pan out, especially after Dmitri’s sentencing.
The Brother’s Karamazov is a novel that explores the depths of the human psyche while also illustrating how values can affect a person’s life and attitude on others. It is a masterful work that transports us to a time and place where the beliefs of that era were being shaken by newer ones, and how, ultimately, humanity is always longing for something that will last and endure.
Fallton Havenstonne 